The Preface reads: "Ten thousand men and women working in more than seventy countries and on the high seas maintained the life-lines of British and Allied communications over the 355,000-mile Imperial cable and wireless network through nearly six years of world-war. This book is a record of their work and a tribute to their achievement. It is based on their own reports, many of which were compiled in the most difficult and dangerous circumstances - under bombardment from the air, under the imminent threat of capture by the enemy, in prison camps, in crowded cities and lonely outposts. Some of the pages quote word for word their official reports: reports in which they have baldly summarised stirring events but have said nothing of their own courage. 'The Thin Red Lines' does not profess to be a complete record. Much more might be told, but the full story - like the full story of achievement in other directions during the war - would fill several volumes. Many of the men and women concerned died at their posts. This book is, therefore, a slight memorial to some of those who gave their lives that others might live in freedom."